Scientific Program & Book of Abstracts
available from September 2023
Invited Speakers
under construction

Martina Absinta
Institute of Experimental Neurology, Division of Neuroscience, Vita-Salute San Raffaele University and Hospital, Milan (Italy) • Dept of Neurology, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore (USA) • Dr. Martina Absinta is a neurologist with an international PhD in Molecular Medicine. She dedicated her work to ultra-high field 7T MRI–human neuropathological correlations in multiple sclerosis, and related identification of novel imaging biomarkers of chronic inflammation (with special focus on microglia-mediated and leptomeningeal inflammation). In the last few years, her work highlighted the clinical relevance of chronic inflammation and chronic active lesions in driving progression in multiple sclerosis and prompted for the planning of novel-designed MRI-based clinical trials aimed at treating such perilesional chronic inflammation. To better understand the immunological mechanism operating at the chronic active lesion edge and new therapeutic targets, she recently built a cellular blueprint of multiple sclerosis lesions using single-nucleus RNA sequencing and identified C1q as critical mediator of microglia activation. Her scientific work has been published in high impact scientific journals, including Nature, Nature Reviews Neurology, JCI, eLife, and JAMA Neurology.
Behnam Badie
Italian Institute of Technology - IIT, Genova (Italy) • Laura Cancedda received her PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy. She did her postdoc at University of Berkeley, California. In 2006, she joined the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) as the principal investigator of the Neurodevelopment and disease lab. She also was also a researcher at the Telethon Dulbecco Institute from 2016 to 2021, and she is an alumna of the FENS KAVLI network of excellence. In 2016, she received a Consolidator grant from the ERC. The Cancedda lab, studies brain development in health and disease, and tries to discover novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. The lab utilizes a multidisciplinary approach with molecular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology and behavioral tests.

Severine Boillee
Paris Brain Institute - ICM, INSERM, Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital, Paris (France) • Dr Severine BOILLEE was trained as a cell biologist and physiologist and received her PhD degree in Neurosciences, from the Paris XII University studying interactions between motor neurons and glial cells. She then moved to the University of California in San Diego (UCSD) and joined the group of Pr Don W. Cleveland, as a postdoctoral fellow. During her extensive postdoctoral research, she was implicated in defining the concept that motor neurons in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) do not die alone but their death is strongly influenced by interactions with the surrounding glia and immune cells. Dr. Boillee got hired as an assistant professor at the INSERM where she is now a research director/professor leading the Team “ALS causes and mechanisms of motor neuron degeneration” at the Paris Brain Institute – ICM at the Pitié-Salpêtrière Hospital / Sorbonne University, in Paris. Her current research focuses on the pathological interactions of microglial cells and peripheral macrophages with the affected motor neurons. The aim of her research is to dissect the toxic and protective components of these pathological neuro-glia interactions with the goal to define novel molecular pathways that could halt motor neuron degeneration and slow ALS disease progression. Dr. Boillee is a member of the scientific advisory board of the French ALS association (ARSla), of the European ALS association Fondation Thierry Latran, and the Health Sector rare diseases for ALS (FILSLAN). She is also on the editorial board of the journal “Neurology: Neuroimmunology & Neuroinflammation”. She received the “NRJ-Fondation de France” prize in 2011 and the “Fabrice Le Mouaher-FRM” Prize in 2022, for her research on ALS.

Michael Khalil
Clinical Department of General Neurology, Medical University of Graz (Austria) • Michael Khalil is a clinical and translational neuroscientist who investigates the pathophysiological mechanisms of neurological diseases, with a focus on body fluid and imaging biomarkers in neuroimmunological and neurodegenerative disorders. He has longstanding expertise in cerebrospinal fluid diagnostics and clinical neurochemistry, and a strong international research network facilitating the development of large multi-centre biomarker discovery and validation studies. Current research in his Unit evaluates the clinical significance of cerebrospinal fluid and blood-based biomarkers using ultra high-sensitive detection techniques in neuroimmunological and neurodegenerative disorders, with a particular focus on multiple sclerosis. The main aim of his Research Unit is to discover and validate body fluid biomarkers for disease progression, different disease phases/stages, and response to disease modifying therapies. Research data are being evaluated and interpreted in strong association with imaging (via conventional and non-conventional MRI at 3T) findings of the central nervous system, and detailed clinical follow-up data. This combined approach shall ultimately serve to define patient subgroups and aid in the development of more effective treatment regimens and drugs.
Richard Morris
Dep. Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences,University of Verona (Italy) • Marco Cambiaghi is a neurophysiologist with a strong background in in-vivo electrophysiology and behavior in rodent models, serving as an Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of Verona, where he teaches human physiology and scientific dissemination. Dr. Cambiaghi has a Master degree in Biology (University of Milan) and a PhD in Experimental Medicine (San Raffaele University). During and after his PhD he worked as a visiting scientist at the City University of New York, the Columbia University and the Weizmann Institute of Science. Back to Italy Dr. Cambiaghi spent 6 years at the University of Turin, focusing on the study of emotional memories. In 2018 he obtained the prestigious Bodini Fellowship of the Italian Academy at the Columbia University. Dr. Cambiaghi research is mainly focused on neural plasticity and its modulation through non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (tDCS and rTMS), in the mouse models of brain ischemia, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. In addition, Dr. Cambiaghi also has a strong interest in the history of science and in scientific dissemination, fields that he pursues since many years. He cooperates with Italian newspapers (La Stampa and La Provincia) and takes an active part in scientific festivals (e.g. Festival della Luce; Galileo Festival), school and general audience dissemination.
Claudio Procaccini
Italian Institute of Technology - IIT, Genova (Italy) • Laura Cancedda received her PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy. She did her postdoc at University of Berkeley, California. In 2006, she joined the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) as the principal investigator of the Neurodevelopment and disease lab. She also was also a researcher at the Telethon Dulbecco Institute from 2016 to 2021, and she is an alumna of the FENS KAVLI network of excellence. In 2016, she received a Consolidator grant from the ERC. The Cancedda lab, studies brain development in health and disease, and tries to discover novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. The lab utilizes a multidisciplinary approach with molecular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology and behavioral tests.
Michal Schwartz
Dep. Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences,University of Verona (Italy) • Marco Cambiaghi is a neurophysiologist with a strong background in in-vivo electrophysiology and behavior in rodent models, serving as an Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of Verona, where he teaches human physiology and scientific dissemination. Dr. Cambiaghi has a Master degree in Biology (University of Milan) and a PhD in Experimental Medicine (San Raffaele University). During and after his PhD he worked as a visiting scientist at the City University of New York, the Columbia University and the Weizmann Institute of Science. Back to Italy Dr. Cambiaghi spent 6 years at the University of Turin, focusing on the study of emotional memories. In 2018 he obtained the prestigious Bodini Fellowship of the Italian Academy at the Columbia University. Dr. Cambiaghi research is mainly focused on neural plasticity and its modulation through non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (tDCS and rTMS), in the mouse models of brain ischemia, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. In addition, Dr. Cambiaghi also has a strong interest in the history of science and in scientific dissemination, fields that he pursues since many years. He cooperates with Italian newspapers (La Stampa and La Provincia) and takes an active part in scientific festivals (e.g. Festival della Luce; Galileo Festival), school and general audience dissemination.
Sebastian Sulis Sato
Italian Institute of Technology - IIT, Genova (Italy) • Laura Cancedda received her PhD at the Scuola Normale Superiore, Italy. She did her postdoc at University of Berkeley, California. In 2006, she joined the Italian Institute of Technology (IIT) as the principal investigator of the Neurodevelopment and disease lab. She also was also a researcher at the Telethon Dulbecco Institute from 2016 to 2021, and she is an alumna of the FENS KAVLI network of excellence. In 2016, she received a Consolidator grant from the ERC. The Cancedda lab, studies brain development in health and disease, and tries to discover novel therapeutic approaches for the treatment of neurodevelopmental disorders. The lab utilizes a multidisciplinary approach with molecular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology and behavioral tests.
Giuseppe Testa
Dep. Neurosciences, Biomedicine and Movement Sciences,University of Verona (Italy) • Marco Cambiaghi is a neurophysiologist with a strong background in in-vivo electrophysiology and behavior in rodent models, serving as an Assistant Professor of Physiology at the University of Verona, where he teaches human physiology and scientific dissemination. Dr. Cambiaghi has a Master degree in Biology (University of Milan) and a PhD in Experimental Medicine (San Raffaele University). During and after his PhD he worked as a visiting scientist at the City University of New York, the Columbia University and the Weizmann Institute of Science. Back to Italy Dr. Cambiaghi spent 6 years at the University of Turin, focusing on the study of emotional memories. In 2018 he obtained the prestigious Bodini Fellowship of the Italian Academy at the Columbia University. Dr. Cambiaghi research is mainly focused on neural plasticity and its modulation through non-invasive brain stimulation techniques (tDCS and rTMS), in the mouse models of brain ischemia, Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis. In addition, Dr. Cambiaghi also has a strong interest in the history of science and in scientific dissemination, fields that he pursues since many years. He cooperates with Italian newspapers (La Stampa and La Provincia) and takes an active part in scientific festivals (e.g. Festival della Luce; Galileo Festival), school and general audience dissemination.